Happy Birthday, My Brother
by Darth-Taisha
Summary: (Re-written) A few months before Itachi dies, Sasuke thinks his brother has forgotten his birthday. Non-Uchihacest, humor, angst, rated T for language. **One-shot/Complete**


**Happy Birthday, My Brother**

**Completely re-written: ** I was editing the old one and I ended up changing a lot of it, so I decided to post it again:)

This one-shot is dedicated to my favorite anime character in honor of his (**spoiler alert** – close your eyes) death on the Anime series (I wrote this first in December 2009). The scene is Sasuke's birthday sometime before the first death of his older and much cooler brother, Itachi.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, and sadly never will.

* * *

_"We are brothers. That is a unique bond. I am the barrier you must overcome, so you and I will continue to exist together, even if you hate me. That's what being a big brother means." Itachi to Sasuke during happier times._

* * *

Karin glared down menacingly at the white birthday cake she had bought for her precious Sasuke-kun and hated its very existence. It represented hideous failure to her. After burning and destroying two cakes already, she finally had to give up and go buy one. Looking at its professionally done, white-icing, loveliness, she felt the irrational urge to stab it. She gripped the kunai knife tighter and viciously stabbed the table instead.

"Karin, are you going to cut the cake or are you going to burn this one too?" Suigetsu asked, mocking her as he made the shape of an "L" with his fingers. He just couldn't resist teasing her all day and was enjoying himself hugely at her expense. After looking at the rage build on her face he began to hold his gut and laugh hysterically.

"Suigetsu—shut up!" She raged at him, causing her fuchsia hair to spike up and fire to burn through her eyes.

_Oh shit, _his laughter stopped after he started seeing signs that she was becoming very enraged. Then, he shrugged his shoulders and decided the bitch was going to get mad at him anyway, so he might as well do something to actually deserve it for once.

"Nice job Karin, uh, Sasuke is really going to love it," he joked sarcastically as he pointed over to where one of her incinerated cakes sat as a testament to her pathetic lack of baking skills—her failure.

Karin's mouth began to flail open and closed like a fish trying to breathe on land as she struggled to control her anger.

Suigetsu tried for about two seconds to hold back his laughter before he let it loose. "Karin, ha, ha…you're killing me," he told her while holding his stomach as he doubled over laughing again.

Karin couldn't take it anymore and pulled the kunai out of the table and flung it at him.

Suigetsu saw it coming and turned himself into water just before it hit him. Unfortunately, the kunai went straight through him and Sasuke who was just coming through the door barely missed being skewered as he dodged it at the last minute. A look of supreme annoyance flashed over his face as he looked down at the small hole it rent in the sleeve of his new shirt. His eyes shot Karin a dark glare before he sat down on the couch and started sharpening one of his kunai knives.

"Ah, Sasuke!" She screamed as her beloved leader almost got hurt because of that dumbass Suigetsu. "Suigetsu, you're so dead!"

Suigetsu turned himself into liquid again and tried to slide out under the door to get away from her wrath. Bristling with rage she chased the puddle of water outside and began ruthlessly stomping on it.

Sasuke glanced irritably over at the white cake on the table and wondered how she found out about his birthday. He sure as hell didn't tell her about it. He sneered to himself as he remembered all of the annoying celebrations Orochimaru used to have for him. Apparently his old sensei had a sentimental side to him and used to throw surprise parties for him each year, with cake (he grimaced and felt like throwing up)… and ice cream.

Sasuke closed his eyes and unfortunately all of the bad memories began to flood his mind, last year's celebration had been especially shitty. He remembered how Orochimaru had forced him to sit on a chair in front of a room, like a prized vase on display, while all of his dumb-ass lab experiments sang happy birthday to him. Though he blocked out most of it, he did remember he used that time to go over his list of people he wanted to kill.

At the top of the list was:

ITACHI (of course) check.

Orochimaru, check.

Kabuto, check.

Lab rats at birthday party, check.

And lastly, that fucking barber who gave him his last haircut, double check. (It had happened a few months ago but he was still pretty pissed about it.)

Sasuke took a deep cleansing breath and unexpectedly, a memory of a happier time flashed through his mind as he thought about his mother and how she used to always make him a cake and they would eat it after dinner as a family.

Mother, father, his family, his clan.

They always made his birthday special. Back then he used to be able to tolerate cake, but no longer. It tasted like ashes to him now.

His mind turned to his older brother, who throughout the years had continued a twisted tradition with him on his own. Each year without fail, Itachi sent him a gift on his birthday, which he promptly destroyed.

It was a sick tradition, but he found it was one that he enjoyed and look forward to. It helped keep his bond of hatred alive and well with his older brother.

Sasuke walked toward the window and glared out moodily as he thought about the man he was going to destroy soon.

"Itachi, my brother," he sneered out loud. _I hope you are ready to die soon…that will be my present to you,_ he thought as his fist clenched and lightning came unbidden to his hand. Sparks began to shoot off of the window so he forced himself to calm down and focus on his surroundings before he ended up destroying something.

He noticed it was getting dark outside and still no present. _Did he forget?_ Sasuke asked himself becoming increasingly angry at Itachi. _You bastard,_ his mind gritted out thinking his brother was probably messing with him.

Jugo came through the door carrying a small package. "Sasuke, this was just delivered to you," he said as he handed the small package to him.

Sasuke took the package from him without thanking him. "You may go now," he told him as he quickly turned away and began ripping open the brown package.

"What did you send me this year, brother?" He asked, his voice was laced with derision and contempt.

When the top of the brown package was removed he pulled out the present and was horrified at what it contained. Inside was a picture frame that had a photo of him, Orochimaru and Kabuto standing next to each other at last year's birthday party. It looked like someone had caught the three of them unaware as they were standing around talking to each other. (As you can imagine it was not a very happy scene.)

Sasuke began to get even more pissed at his brother as he thought Itachi was beginning to become even more of a sick freak the older he got. He threw the frame and package across the room and watched as it crashed against the wall with annoyance. This birthday was beginning to suck just as much as last years' did and considering how bad last year's party had been, that was saying something.

Glancing over he saw hanging out of the mangled package was a note. Curious, he walked over and picked it up. He frowned when he saw it wasn't from Itachi, it was from Kabuto.

Sighing in irritation, he began to read the note.

_Sasuke-kun,_

_Happy Birthday!_

_I thought you might be missing us, so I sent you this picture to remember me and your old sensei._

_Come kill me if you want to,_

_Kabuto_

Sasuke looked in contempt at the note before he crumpled it up and threw it violently at the wall.

"Hmpf, you wish, dumbass," he said disdainfully before turning around and glaring out the window again.

Sasuke lifted his eyes up toward the ceiling with an extremely long-suffering look as he heard his team mates come back into the room. God only knew what torture was going to happen to him next and he dreaded it. They were going to want to celebrate his birthday with him and that meant cake, singing...he began to feel extreme nausea coming on.

Karin sleazed over to him and put her hands on his shoulders.

Sasuke immediately bristled. "Don't ever touch me again," he warned her in a low and menacing voice. She put her hands up in defense as she slowly backed away from him in fear. "Sorry Sasuke, will you come and have cake with us?"

Sasuke cringed mentally as he thought about how much she annoyed him, especially today. "No. Go away."

Karin sniffled like a little girl who had just lost her favorite doll. "But Sasuke, I made this cake myself... just for you," she lied sweetly.

Suigetsu snorted before laughing behind his hand. "Liar, you incinerated the cakes you made, you bought it," he accused her with a condescending voice that he knew would piss her off to no end. To top it off, he made the "L" sign with his fingers so only she would see it.

Karin's face immediately contorted with rage as she began chasing him around the room. "I swear, I am going to kill you this time," she screamed with massive killing intent radiating from her.

Jugo looked at both of them and decided to get them to stop before Sasuke became too upset, he also began to chase around after them.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed menacingly in exasperation as he was beginning to think this new team of his was even more fucking irritating than his old team in Konoha was. He was beginning to think he was a fucking idiot magnet or something.

_Losers._

He opened the door and decided to get away before he accidentally killed one of them, just to shut them up. His eyes scanned around and saw no packages or letters were on the porch, not even a card.

_Fucking brother_, he complained mentally as he felt his anger toward his sibling begin to intensify. Itachi was messing with him and tradition and it was pissing him off, he decided to go on a walk to calm himself down.

After circling the town a few times and buying himself a soda and then strolling through the woods a little more, his state of mind began to go back where it belonged - on killing his brother.

Feeling much better and calmer, he decided to head back to his hotel room.

* * *

Sitting down wearily at a desk at a hotel a few towns away from where his brother was, Itachi finished writing a note to him. He had been busy all day with a mission and this was the first chance he had to continue his tradition of contacting his brother on his birthday. He noticed the time and saw it was very late. He had a feeling Sasuke was probably very pissed off at him for missing his birthday.

He opened the window and performed a jutsu and watched as a crow appeared on the ledge. After handing the note to the bird and telling him to deliver it to his brother, he watched in sadness as it flew away into the darkness.

"Happy birthday, my foolish little brother," Itachi said somberly, knowing it would be the last birthday he would be around for Sasuke. He looked over tiredly at all the medicine by his bedside and hoped his body would be able to hold out long enough for him to execute all of his plans.

"Good night, Sasuke," Itachi said out loud just like he always did before he went to bed.

* * *

A few towns away Sasuke looked more annoyed than usual as he prepared for bed. His mood had taken a nosedive when he had arrived back at his hotel and noticed that there were still no letters, boxes or packages waiting for him by the door. So, then he headed off to his room and when he saw there was nothing for him there, his shoulders began to droop. Through the open door, his questioning eyes shifted toward his team-mates huddling in the corner away from him and they all shook their heads in unison, no.

His hand formed into a tight fist as he slammed the door shut. An angry sense of purpose began to fill his heart. He was done healing and waiting around, tomorrow he would resume his search for that bastard of a brother and then he was going to kill him.

Sasuke breathed out in annoyance as he stared up at the ceiling in the darkened room and decided this had to be the worst fucking birthday of his life, it sucked. But at least it was over, and it wasn't long before he fell into a restless sort of sleep.

A few hours later he woke up when he heard an insistent tapping sound on the window. He activated his Sharingan and recognized his brother's chakra in the crow on the window sill outside. Without hesitation he opened the window and took the note from its beak and watched as it slowly dissipated into the air.

He opened the note and saw his brother's perfect and efficient handwriting.

_Brother, I will give you your gift soon. Forgive me for missing your birthday, Itachi_

Sasuke's brow furrowed up in confusion as he tried to read between the lines. _What could that bastard mean?_ He hoped it meant he would get his chance to kill him soon. The corners of his lips curled up in a slight smile as he balled the note up into his hand.

"Whatever," he said without emotion just before he went back to bed feeling lighter; his birthday had suddenly just gotten a whole lot better.

**[Time skip - After Sasuke learned the truth about his brother]**

Sasuke's face was pale and emotionless as he stared up at the full moon and remembered his kind, older brother. Almost unconsciously he gently smoothed out the piece of paper in his hands with his thumb. It was the last thing he had received from his brother.

After speaking to Madara, he had learned how his brother had transferred all of his power to him and had been actually protecting him for years. Anguish ripped through his guts as he remembered how much time he had spent hating his brother, while all along Itachi had been sacrificing everything for him.

His voice was heavy with sorrow as he spoke to Itachi and hoped wherever he was, he would be able to hear him.

"Arigato brother."

**Author's Note:** (Spoilers) RIP Itachi. It was hard both times watching you die. This fic is in honor of one of the greatest anime characters ever. Please review and share your thoughts with me, I would really appreciate it.


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